Drone Found in Arms Bust… Spells New Options for Terrorists

A seemingly petty dispute over littering outside a federal housing project turned into a frightening discovery earlier this month in Minneapolis.

According to WCCO, the CBS station in Minneapolis, a man confronted two men for littering outside their car near the project on the north side of the city.

In response, the men — identified as brothers Abdullah Alrifahe, 27, and Majid Alrifahe, 26 — jumped out of the vehicle and moved aggressively toward the man, going as far as calling him a “n****r.” The man called the police.

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When officers arrived, according to the Star Tribune, the men refused to leave the car and told police they had to be near the vehicle because they were waiting for a drone to arrive to deliver a package.

Officers arrested the men, placed them in a patrol car and searched their vehicle — and that’s when when the shocking discovery was made.

Inside was a loaded AK-47, another rifle, a handgun, a grenade and large amounts of ammunition. However, the most horrifying items found were bomb-making materials — and a drone aircraft, according to WCCO.

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That last item is particularly worrisome.

The use of weaponized drone aircraft by the terrorist fighters of the Islamic State group has been growing for more than a year, and\ Bloomberg reported earlier this year that anti-terrorist experts are predicting it could be only a matter of time until drones start showing up as a weapon for terrorists inside the United States, too.

“They are doing all sorts of innovative and experimental things,” John Mulligan, deputy director of the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center, told a security conference in March, according to Bloomberg. “We’ve seen them using them in surveillance. We’ve seen them using them in weapons delivery. We can rest assured that they will continue to fine tune their capabilities in this regard.”

The Alrifahe brothers are known to have Middle Eastern ties, according to WCCO.

Meanwhile, the man whose complaints about their littering led to the brothers’ arrest told WCCO the discovery was meant to be.

“My guardian angels steered me in that direction, and it just mushroomed from there,” the man said. He asked to remain anonymous, fearing for his safety.

Abdullah Alrifahe had recently been released from jail after serving time for a weapons conviction, according to the station. He is now facing a single felony weapons charge. His brother, Majid, has been released from jail and is facing low-level misdemeanor charges, including disorderly conduct.

According to WCCO-TV, Abdullah is being held on $200,000 bail.

The man who called police is outraged the charges aren’t more serious.

“For what they found in their car, that is way too light,” he told WCCO.